Collector s bill-book



um 623,449. .Patented Apr; la, |899.

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GULLECTUBS BILL 800K.

(Applicatinn led Nov. 15, 1898.) (nu nodal.)

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l Erre STATES FERIE.,

ATENT COLLECTORS BILL-ROOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,449, dated April 18, 1899.

Application filed November l5, 1898. Serial No. 696,577. (No model.)

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Beit known that I, GEORGE COOPER WARD, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Fort lVorth, in the county of Tarrant and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collectors Bill-Books; and

I do declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying d rawing,and to the letters of' reference marked thereon, which forms a part of this specification.

My invention hasreference toa blankbillbook, its object being to provide a book which will contain a number Of bill-heads, each billhead having a stub for .entries to be made thereon, the bill-heads and stubs being combined with an index to contain the names of the persons whose bills are made out on the bill-heads, together with the amount of the bill of each person, the bill-heads, the stubs, and the index containing corresponding numbers, so that the stubs and index taken together will indicate in whose name a certain bill is made out and the amount of the bill, the purpose being to afford a check upon the bill-collector, all as hereinafterparticularly described and then sought'to be specifically defined by the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, illustrating the invention, and in which is represented a perspective View of the book, showing one or more leaves partly raised to better show the parts. v

In the drawing is illustrated a bill-head A, of which there may be any desired number, each hill-head having a space for the name of the person against whom the bill ismade out and the name of the person to whom he is indebted, together with such other matter as it may be desired to print thereon, and also a space in which to enumerate the items of the bill and the money value of the item or items. Each bill-head has attached thereto a stub B, between which and the bill-head may he a line of perforations, slits, or indentations, so as to permit the bill-head to be easily separated from the stub. The stub is designed to have printed thereon matterfor instance, matter indicating the ledgermade out and will also have a space for the amount of each bill, which may be ruled, as indicated in the drawing. The index will also contain aseries of-numbers corresponding to the numbers on.the stubs and billheads-for instance, from l to 25-the name of the person against whom the bill is ymade out being placed opposite to the numeral corresponding with the numeral on the bill-head containing the account rendered and corresponding to the numeral on the stub attached to said bill-head.

One manner of using the invention is for the bookkeeper to make out the bills upon the bill-heads and enter upon the stub the ledger-folio upon which the bill is entered up and the amount of the bill and to place the names of the persons against whom the bills are made out upon the index, placing the name of the person` upon the index opposite to the numeral corresponding with the numerals upon the bill-head and its stub and the amount of the bill opposite to the name in the index. The bill-book made up as described is then turned over to the collector and when he collects a bill. he enters upon the stub the date of the payment and also places opposite the name of the person in the index and its number a check-mark-.for instance, a cross, such as indicated in the drawing. If he has had occasion to make anumber of calls upon the debtor before receiving payment of the bill, he enters upon the stub in the space for remarks such data as he may desire to record-for instance, the dateof the call or demand andthe answer or promise received from the debtor.

Vthen thecollector turns in his bill-book, if itis found that one or more bills are missing without the entries having been made upon the stub and indexindicating payment of the bill he is called to account for the miss- IOC ing bill, the presumption being that when a bill is missing the same has been paid and the collector is held responsible for the amount of that bill. The name of the person against whom the missing bill was made out is readily ascertained by a reference to the numeral on the index corresponding with the numeral on the stubto which the bill-head was attached and the amount of the bill is also at once ascertained by such reference. If the bill has been paid, the bookkeeper upon examining the stub in the bill-book at once ascertains the' page of the ledger in which the account is entered up, and thusvhe is able to at once refer to that page, so as to make the proper credit upon the ledger. Vhen the collector turns in his book at the close of the days business, the bookkeeper by observing the check-marks upon the index opposite to the names of the persons Whose bills have been collected -can ascertain at once the amount of money which the collector should turn in, and thus a settlement is readily effected, and by hurriedly turning over the leaves of the billbook he may readily see what bills have been taken out, and by observing the number of the stub and the corresponding number upon the index he can at once demand of the collector an explanation for the missing bill for which the proper check has not been made upon the index. It will thus be observed that various checks against the bill-collector failing to make proper returns are afforded, and the collector being aware of these checks upon his acts being thus provided for he will be caused to make proper and prompt returns in case there should be any disposition on his part to withhold returns upon his collections as made.

I have described and ,illustrated numerals upon the bill-heads, stubs, and index as the characters for connecting or associating the three parts with one another; but it is obvious that instead of using numerals letters of the alphabet or other characters may be employed; but the same are not illustrated,

characters as that which has been indicated.

I have illustrated and described what I consider to be the best arrangement of the several parts constituting the blank bill-book; but it is obvious that changes can be made in the arrangement of the several parts in the matter placed upon each and still employ the essential features of the invention.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits, What I claim isl. A collectors bill-book comprising a number of bill-heads, a number of stubs from which the bill-heads may be detached, and an index for the bill-heads, the bill-heads, stubs and index having corresponding numbers, the stubs and index being` permanently bound in the book and to indicate the names of the debtors, the amountof the bill and the amount paid on account of the bill, substan- -tially as and for the purposes described.

2. A collectors bill-book comprising a number of leaves for the bills, a number of stubs from which the bill-head leaves may be detached, and an index for the bill-head leaves, the index and stubs having corresponding numbers, the index to indicate the names of debtors and the amount paid on account of the bills and the stubs to indicate the amount of their bills and date of payment, the stubs and index forming a permanent part of the book and the billhead leaves detachable parts thereof, substantially as and for the purposes described.

. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE COOPER Vitnesses:

GEO. W. AKERs, XV. H. WILLIAMS.

WARD. 

